Orissa CM Naveen Patnaik offers special Puja at Tara Tarini Shrine

Orissa Chief Minister Shri Naveen Patnaik visited the Adi Sakti peeth of Maa Tara Tarini on April 26, 2011. Tara Tarini, an ancient Shakti shrine is located on the banks of the mythologically famous Rushikulya River, 30 km from Berhampur city and is believed to be the Sthana Peeth (Breast Shrine) of Adi Shakti with its history dating back to antiquity. The Shrine is one of the ancient most places of Shakti worship and among the four major Shakti centers in India.

The Chief Minister landed at around 9.30am by a special copter near the hill shrine and directly went inside the holy temple and offered puja for around one hour. He visited the newly constructed temple complex and enquired about its progress. RDC of Southern Division, Orissa and Tara Tarini Development Board Chairman Shri Laxmi Narayan Nayak and TTDB secretary Shri Pramod Panda informed him about the progress of all ongoing developmental works on both the hilltop and on the foothill region. They also informed the CM about the future infrastructural requirements keeping in view the consistently growing number of visitors and devotees to the shrine. 

Shri Naveen Patnaik inaugurated the new administrative building constructed by Purushottampur block at a cost of 25 lacs on the hilltop and appreciated the ongoing works. He reviewed the widening work of the ghat road, which is constructed by the PWD department, government of Odisha at a cost of Rs 5 crores.   On the foot hill of the shrine the CM laid the foundation stone for the Tara Tarini bathing Ghat on the banks of holy river Rushikulya at a cost of 10 lacs.

TTDB secretary Shri Pramod Panda conveyed the CM that this holy shrine is fast emerging as a popular religious tourism destination. Last month during the Chaitra festivals around two million devotees visited the holy shrine from the cross section of the country and mainly from Orissa and other neighboring states. Shri Panda informed that bearing the growing number of devotees in mind the TTDB has decided to construct a lavatory complex, big rest shed and view-tower on the hilltop. 

After knowing the facts the Chief Minister immediately directed the officials to expedite the ongoing developmental works for the benefit of the devotes and assured all possible help from the state government for creating required infrastructure facilities. Among others, Law and Rural Development Minister, Government of Odisha Shri Bikram Keshari Arukh, RDC and TTDB Chairman Shri Laxmi Narayan Nayak, Berhampur MLA Ramesh Chandra Chyau Pattnaik, Gopalpur MLA Dr. Pradeep Panigrahi, MLAs of Khallikate and Polosara, District Collector Shri V. Kartikeyan Pandian, SP Ganjam, SP Berhampur, all the office bearers of TTDB, Executive Officer of Tara Tarini temple and other officials of government of Orissa were present on the occasion.       

Lakhs throng Thakurani Yatra on last day; Berhampur bids farewell to its daughter Goddess Thakurani; city bears the look of a fancy dress show

BERHAMPUR: Now its curtains down on the carnival! Lakhs of people were eager enough to bid a tearfull farewell to their daughter, revered Goddess Thakurani (treated as the daughter of the city who visits her parents every two years) as they have to wait for another two years to witness such a carnival. Lakhs of people from Orissa and from neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, Chhatisgarh, West Bengal and Jharkhand thronged silk city Berhampur on the last day of the famous Thakuarni Yatra to have a glimpse of the Goddess and to be part of the grand festivity that is associated with the carnival. The Yatra was celebrated here after an interval of two years. The Yatra started a month ago when Goddess Thakurani came to her paternal house at the Deshibehera Street here, stayed at the temporary abode and visited various parts of the city every evening. On the last day, Goddess Thakurani returned back to the home of her in-laws, the Budhi Thakurani Temple, in the City.

About the Carnival

Thakurani Yatra is a unique biennial celebration of the carnival spirit that lurks in every heart, whether young or old. The whole city of Berhampur in south Orissa bears the look of a fancy dress show during the Thakurani Yatra festival. The whole city jumps into joyous carnival when the reigning deity of the city goddess Budhi Thakurani makes the journey from her permanent temple to a temporary temple at Desibehera Street .It is regarded as the journey of the deity, the role of a married woman, to her parental abode from her in-laws' home. The carnival continues till the deity returns back to her temple. As an offering to the deity, during the festival, thousands of people of all ages don the garb of mythological characters. Brothers become Pandavas. Transcending time, Krishna and Hanuman walk the streets hand in hand.Demons and witches jump into the crowd. To mark the religious harmony of the city participants of the festival enact even crucifixion of Christ. Some even try to advertise brands on their painted bodies. Mass carnival rallies by hundreds of persons with tonsured heads mocking the false godmen, a rally by more than 108 children and aged people dressed as 'Vanar Sena' of Lord Ram, procession of people dressed as Buddhist monks or followers of Guru Nanak add colour to this festival. This festival is incomplete without the famous tiger dance of Ganjam district. With their body painted with tiger stripes, people move around performing tiger dance to the beats of drums and 'Changu'.

Source: http://www.thakurani.com/, The Hindu, The Pioneer, Kalingatimes

Many Olive Riedley hatchlings falling prey to predators at Rushikulya rookery near Berhampur

A child broke into tears at Rushikulya rookery coast on Sunday morning when a young Olive Ridley hatchling saved by her was savoured by a large red crab before her eyes.

She could not swallow this normal aspect of intricate food chain of Mother Nature. Despite human efforts to save each of the lakhs of hatchlings that are coming out of Olive Ridley nests under the sand at this coast, nature is continuing to take its toll of these hatchlings. For the past three nights mass hatching of Olive Ridley eggs has begun at this famous Rushikulya coast near Berhampur which is a major nesting site of these endangered turtles in the country. On an average around 80 hatchlings are to come out from each of 2,54,000 nests on the 5-km nesting site in almost a week's time.

Local volunteers, forest officials and even tourists are busy making efforts to save each of these hatchlings. Despite all this, fate of these hatchlings seems to be ruled by the Darwinian norm of ‘survival of the fittest'. “We all are compelled to accept that although such a large number of hatchlings enter the sea from this mass nesting site only one out of 1,000 would survive to become a mature Olive Ridley,” said Berhampur Divisional Forest Officer (DFO) A.K.Jena.

Crows feeding on Olive Ridley hatchlings at the Rushikulya rookery 

No one on this beach is able to tolerate tiny beautiful hatchlings die an early death. A tourist Pramod Das said he and his family had saved more than a hundred hatchlings that had strayed away from sea by picking them and leaving them near the sea waves. All measures have been taken to protect the turtle eggs and hatchlings from land predators like foxes, dogs and hyena. But nothing can be done to shoo away the hundreds of crows, which seem to wait for these hatchlings to come out. They instinctively target the weak hatchlings that fall behind during the march towards the sea. Crows seem to have developed the technique to kill and eat weak hatchlings that may be passing from generation to generation among them. They pounce on solitary slow-moving weak hatchlings and overturn them. Before any one could shoo them away, with their sharp beak they tear open its soft abdomen to eat up the insides. They also fly away with the smaller ones in their beaks. At times carcasses of these small hatchlings are seen on trees more than 5 km from the beach.

Crabs that live in burrowed holes on the beach also wait for the weak hatchlings. They overpower the solitary weak slow-moving hatchlings. Crabs throttle neck of the hatchling to kill it. Then they drag it inside their hole to savour its meat. Some hawks also pick up a few of these weak hatchlings. Members of the Rushikulya Sea Turtle Protection Committee (RSTPC), a group of volunteers from villages near rookery who are involved in conservation of Olive Ridley eggs and hatchlings accept this phenomenon.

R.N.Sahu of RSTPC said no one could stop the natural high mortality rate of turtle hatchlings as survival of the fittest is the rule of Mother Nature, “yet we will continue to save as many hatchlings of this endangered species from predators as possible.”

Source: The Hindu  

Berhampur gets first vending zone

BERHAMPUR: Revenue minister Surya Narayan Patra inaugurated Berhampur’s first vending zone in front of MKCG Medical College and Hospital today. The vending zone has been set up alongside NH 217, between Courtpeta Square and Gajapati Nagar Square. Housing and urban development minister Badri Narayan Patra was present at the programme.Vending zones in the city has been a long-standing demand. The authorities have been promising to establish vending zones since 2004-05, when encroachments by small traders were removed from areas along NH 217. Small traders, who depend on roadside business, were demanding more vending zones since they were incurring losses due to sudden anti-encroachment drives by the authorities, sources said. “In all, 39 vegetable vendors, who were displaced from Kamapalli Jail Road a year ago, were rehabilitated in the Mardarajpur vending zone,” said BMC commissioner Bhim Manseth.

Each vendor, who are being allotted rooms, have paid Rs 10,000 as development charges and another Rs 10,000 as security per rooms. The 8”X10” rooms with tin shades were allotted through lottery and the vendors would pay Rs 600 as rent per month, sources said. Almost all the vendors were happy after they got rooms in the vending zone. “We would conduct a bhumi puja on April 27 at the vending zone before selling vegetables,” one of the vendors said. Though most vegetable vendors who have being allotted rooms in the vending zone are happy with the arrangement and the location, some demanded immediate steps such as, a tubewell and provision for water and toilets in the complex.

Vendors of Gate Bazar, another crowded area of Berhampur, are ready for displacement if they were provided a proper vending zone. But the authorities have not been able to provide them an alternative vending site. Former revenue divisional commissioner Satyabrata Sahu had proposed the vegetable market at Gate Bazar to be shifted to an alternative site. Vegetable vendors of the area had also submitted a memorandum demanding a vending zone. “We hope to get a similar vending zone for us soon,” one of them said. Since no vending zones were established, the traders whose encroachments had been removed, returned to their old places.

Source: The Telegraph 

Divinity descends on Silk City: ToI

BERHAMPUR: Take a stroll down the streets of Silk City, and you are likely to run into Hanuman riding a bicycle or Lord Krishna walking along the pavements. You might even spot Lord Shiva and Goddess Parvati mingling with crowds of shoppers in the city's bazaars, while his followers dance in the streets. Berhampur is celebrating the famous biannual Thakurani Yatra and the entire city is flooded with mythological characters, or rather regular people in the 'vesha' (disguise) of gods and goddesses these days. The yatra is observed to mark the visit of Goddess Budhi Thakurani, the presiding deity of the town, from the temple to her father's house at Desibehera Street here.  Residents of the town, across age-groups, dress themselves in costumes akin to characters from mythology and use body paint and other accessories to look like them. Then they roam about the streets during the festival period as part of a 'manashika' (votive) offering to the gods. "I am dressed like Sri Krishna as my mother had promised the goddess I would do so if her wish for my well-being was fulfilled," said 21-year-old Raju, a computer engineering student in the city. People do not dress only as mythological characters during the yatra but also like some social and folk dance characters.

Source: Times of India, The Hindu

BDA to initiate strict measures to check encroachments

BERHAMPUR: The Berhampur Development Authority (BDA) has decided to take strict measures to protect a few open patches of government land in the city which is fast becoming a concrete jungle with little breathing space. It was decided at a meeting of the BDA. Rapid unplanned urbanisation of this traditional city has left little space for vegetation within it. Open patches of government land have been encroached. In some places buildings have also been come up on this encroached land, said chairperson of the BDA Kailash Rana.

The BDA has identified ten large open spaces of government land within the city. They would be cleared off encroachments. “We may opt to demolish illegally constructed buildings on these patches,” Mr Rana said. These cleared up patches would be developed as zones for vegetation and would also serve as parks for localites, he added. Apart from them 30 other smaller patches of unused government land in different parts of the city would also be protected from future encroachments. These patches would be protected by boundary walls. They would also be transformed into islands of vegetation, Mr. Rana said.

The BDA also decided to come up with low-cost apartments in Vivek Vihar area where it has already started a housing project. These low- cost apartments would be provided to families at Rs. 6 lakh. Around 150 flats would come up on a patch of five acres of land in Vivek Vihar area. A Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) for the city would be ready by September this year.

The city would get its master plan after more than four decades as its last master plan was prepared way back in 1969. The area under greater Berhampur includes the urban centres of Berhampur, Gopalpur, and Chatrapur and 139 villages between them. The BDA authorities also decided to make rain water harvesting a mandatory norm for each building in the city. Vice-chairman of the BDA and Ganjam District Collector V.K. Pandian said it was the need of the hour as groundwater level in the city was on a sharp decline due to lack of scope for its recharging in this water-scarce city.

Source: The Hindu

Berhampur gets air connectivity; first flight takes off from Rangeilunda air strip

BERHAMPUR: A new chapter was added to the state’s aviation history today with the launch of a non-scheduled air charter service from Gopalpur to Bhubaneswar. Global Avianautics (GAL), which runs the Government Aviation Training Institute (GATI) for the state government in Bhubaneswar, is operating the service. “The flight will take off daily from Gopalpur’s Rangeilunda air strip for Bhubaneswar. The six-seater twin engine mini aeroplane Pipper Seneca will carry four passengers and two crew members. The cost of a flight from Gopalpur to Bhubaneswar would be between Rs 5,000 and Rs 6,000. The distance between the two cities, which is about 186km by road, will be covered in 40 minutes,” said O.P. Suri, CEO of GAL, and wing commander Pradeep Chakravarty. Ganjam collector V. Kartikeya Pandian inaugurated the service on the auspicious day of Ram Navami. However, there were no passengers in the inaugural flight.

GAL would provide air journey to Visakhapatnam and other nearby cities having big or small airstrips, provided the plane covers the distance within two hours. Clarifying the status of the non-scheduled air charter services, officials of the GAL said that there is no schedule journey of the flight. “When we have four passengers, we will take off,” said a GAL officer.

Although there is no air ticket booking office or enquiry counter at Rangeilunda at present, GAL is planning to open an office on the premises of the PWD office situated near the air strip, sources said.

The GAL aviation services company is providing various aviation services such as flying training for fixed and rotary wing aircrafts, development and operation of small airstrips, non-scheduled air charter services and aero sports. The officers are quite optimistic about the prospects at Rangeilunda.

GATI at Bhubaneswar is using Rangeilunda as the second flying club in Orissa. “As the Bhubaneswar airport runway suffers from traffic congestion most of the time, the civil aviation ministry was in search of a suitable substitute and considered Rangeilunda air strip as the best,” captain M.S. Mander, flight instructor in-charge of GATI, had said earlier.

Mander, who had surveyed the Rangeilunda air strip along with wing commander Pradeep Chakravarty earlier, had urged the district administration to extend the present runway of the Rangeilunda air strip so that bigger aircraft could land and take off. Gopalpur, which is a major tourist destination, could have air connectivity with Calcutta, Vishakhapatnam, Hyderabad and Bhubaneswar.

Rangeilunda is located at a distance of around 5km from Berhampur and is adjacent to Berhampur University. The Britishers built the Rangeilunda air strip during the Second World War.

Meanwhile, Road and Building, Division-II, Berhampur has prepared an estimated Rs 27.29-crore plan for development of Rangeilunda airstrip. Further, a green filed domestic airport has been proposed to come up at Konisi on the outskurts of Berhampur city.

Source: The Telegraph, IBNLive.com

Photo Source: The Telegraph

Berhampur celebrates Thakurani yatra

BERHAMPUR: The southern Orissa town of Berhampur, known as the Silk city of Orissa is celebrating the biannual Thakurani yatra. The yatra is being observed to mark the visit of Goddess Budhi Thakurani, the presiding deity of the town from temple to her father's house at Desbehera street here. The festival which was scheduled to end on Monday night, had been extended till April 25. "We have extended the festive period considering the request of the yatra committee," said Ganjam District Collector V K Pandian. Several people of the town, irrespective of their ages dress up as Hanuman, Lord Krishna, Lord Shiva along with Parvati and move in the streets during this festival. "I am dressed like Sri Krishna as my mother had vowed to the Goddess for my welfare," said 21-year-old Raju, a computer engineering student. Not only the mythological characters, several others also attires like some social and folk dance characters. While over 100 people of Bijipur area shaved their heads and dressed like Budhist monk, over 50 people of Dalua street dressed like the followers of Guru Nanak during the festival. However, the experts were not sure about the origin of the practice of wearing attires in the Thakurani yatra. "We have observed that more number of people are participating in attire show this time than the previous years", said Subash Chandra Padhy, Reader of History, Berhampur University. Hrushikesh Panigrahi, the programming executive of All India Radio (Berhampur) who has conducted research on it claimed the attire (vesha) system originated from the Berhampur Thakurani Yatra. "Almost all veshas are closely related to the goddess and they depict themselves to appease the Goddess", he said.

Source: PTI, IBNLive

Thakurani Yatra extended

BERHAMPUR: The biennial Budhi Thakurani Yatra has been extended by a fortnight, sources in the district administration said. The district authorities have initially given permission for traditional rituals of the yatra, which started on March 28, for a fortnight after taking into consideration various factors like summer heat and drinking water facility. However, as construction of different carts, art galleries in various streets and other attractions of the festival could not be completed in time, Yatra organiser Durga Prasad Desibehera appealed for extension. Accordingly, the administration permitted the yatra till April 25. Over 50,000 people throng the city daily apart from locals.

Source: NewIndianExpress

Heritage status demanded for Utkal Ashram at Berhampur

BERHAMPUR: On the occasion of Utkal Diwas, several eminent people from Berhampur said Utkal Ashram should be declared a heritage building. This is the building where, almost a century ago, a series of meetings were held among Oriya leaders to chalk out strategies to spearhead a movement for the formation of the separate state of Orissa on the basis of language. The 90-year-old building was witness to the Oriya movement in the state before formation of the separate state of Orissa on April 1, 1936. The state observed 75 years of Orissa Diwas (state formation day) this year and the government should declare Utkal Ashram a heritage building, said its secretary Basant Kumar Panigrahi, who is also a senior advocate. Panigrahi also urged the government to set up a museum in the building in order to preserve all documents related to the state formation movement and the photographs of the important leaders. According to historians, Harihar Mardaraj, the erstwhile king of Khallikote, was the first person to invite all the Oriya leaders to chalk out a plan for the agitation for a separate state at his Rambha Palace in 1902. The palace is currently leased out to a private party which has coverted it into a hotel.  Since Rambha Palace is not in a position to be declared a heritage building, atleast Utkal Ashram, which played a significant role in the formation of the separate state of Orissa, should be declared one, said retired professor Prahallad Panda. 

The annual conference of the Ganjam Jatiya Samiti was held at Berhampur on April 11 and 12, 1903. This conference provided the infrastructural grounding for the Utkal Sammilani to have its first conference at the Idgah ground in Cuttack, historians said. The land for the establishment of Utkal Ashram was donated by the then zamindar of Sheragada estate. A thatched house was built there as an ashram to provide shelter to the leaders. Later, a separate building was constructed with donations collected from people, Panigrahi added. Almost all the national and state leaders of the time visited the ashram during the Oriya and national movements, he added. Since the ashram played a pivotal role in the formation of the state, the road on which it is situated was named Utkal Ashram Road by the municipality. The state government, however, did not provide any fund for its maintenance, sources said. "The place played a significant role in the formation of a separate state on the basis of the Oriya language and culture," said Mohapatra Bhaskar Gantayat, a noted Oriya litterateur. In due course, several other organisations like Kalinga Sahitaya Samaj, Kabisurya Rangamanch, Oriya Jatiya Bhawan, Odissi Dance School etc came up here. 

Source: Times of India

Berhampur institutes shine during recruitment drive

BERHAMPUR: Technical and management institutes in Berhampur have seen an encouraging trend during this year's campus recruitment drive by private companies. Presidency College, a private B-school, has declared cent per cent placement of final year students of the post graduate diploma in management (PGDM) course. As many as 230 of the 350 students in the government-run Industrial Technology Institute (ITI) have got placement in a automobile manufacturing company, principal RK Panigrahi said. The students were recruited by Tata Motors for its Panthanagar unit, where the Nano is manufactured. The students of fitter, welder, motor mechanic, automobiles, and painter departments were recruited by the company as trainee operators. Each selected student will be receive a monthly stipend of Rs 6660 during the training period. Similarly, Ronald Institute of Technology (RIT), a private degree engineering college in the town, claimed that about 114 students were recruited by 24 different companies. The institute hopes to cross 200 mark during the placement drive in the next two months. Roland Institute of Pharmaceutical Science has tied up with a Hyderabad-based biotech company, Nitza Biologicals (Pvt) limited, to conduct campus placement for its students. Almost all pharmaceutical science students in the institute have already got job offers in various drug and biological firms across the country, claimed institute director J Surya Rao. M Choudhury, placement co-ordinator of Presidency College, said the recruitment drive started from the first week of March. The process began with pre-placement training by experts for three weeks before the campus selection conducted by different companies. The students of other institutes such as Sanjay Memorial Institute of Technology (SMIT), Kalinga Institute of Technology (KIT) and Berhampur University also participated in the recruitment process, she added. 

Source: Times of India, http://www.roland.ac.in/

and History is made...India wins cricket world cup 2011...Congratulations India!

Cometh the hour, cometh the Man in Blue

Future Berhampur congratulates team India for the spectucular victory

Silk City celebrates India's win

Hundreds of cricket lovers in the Silk City took to the streets, burst firecrackers, waved the national flag and danced to celebrate India's cricket World Cup win. Hundreds of youth danced on the streets with faces painted in the colours of the national flag. In the southern city of Berhampur, many cricket lovers visited temples and broke coconuts before the deities. People from all walks of life were seen hugging each other, singing, dancing with joy in the other cities of the state. Young People were seen queeing up to offer prayers at the famous TaraTarini Hill Shrine on Sunday morning and thousands thronged the Thakurani yatra currently underway in the city with Indian flags and with tattoos of Indian captain Dhoni, Sachin and others.

Lakhs of devotees throng Taratarini hill shrine on the second Tuesday of Chaitra

Around four lakh devotees from various parts of Orissa and from neighbouring states like West Bengal, Jharkhand, Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh thronged the Tara Tarini hill shrine on the auspicious Second Tuesday of the month of Chaitra. Tara Tarini, an ancient Shakti shrine located on the banks of the mythologically famous river of Rushikulya, 30 km from Berhampur city, is believed to be the Sthana Pitha (Breast Shrine) of Adi Shakti. The Shrine is one of the ancient most places of Shakti worship and among the four major Shakti centers in India. It bears a history of not less then 5000 years.

It may be noted that all the Tuesdays of the month of Chaitra are days of festivity at this hill shrine and this month long fest in honour of the twin goddess is the biggest fair of India held at any religious shrine.

As per the report available, on the second Tuesday of Chaitra festival around 10,000 babies offered their hairs to the goddess and the number this year surpassed the number registered in the corresponding Tuesday of the previous years.

The festivities started at this shrine from Monday midnight itself and throughout the night there were cultural programmes to entertain the devotees. After the traditional ceremonial works, the sanctum of Maa Tara Tarini opened at around 1 a.m in the morning and darshan started after that.

Revenue Divisional Commissioner (RDC) of Southern Division, Odisha, Shri Laxmi Narayan Nayak, Secretary Fisheries Government of Odisha Shri Satyabrata Sahu, Ganjam District Collector Shri VK Pandian, Superintendent of Police Berhampur and Ganjam and many other senior state and central government officials, apart from the executive officer and all other office bearers of Tara Tarini Development Board, were present on the occasion.

Last year on the third Tuesday of Chaitra, more than 6 lakh people visited the hill shrine. Therefore, sensing that, the Tara Tarini Development Board (TTDB) is making elaborate arrangements for the smooth darshan of devotees on the upcoming 3rd and 4th Tuesdays.